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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and several administration officials have been frustrated by delays to the AI chip company’s multi-billion-dollar deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The deal was first announced during President Donald Trump’s visit to the country, where the U.A.E. promised to invest up to a billion dollars in the U.S. in exchange for approval to purchase a billion dollars’ worth of Nvidia chips. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Middle Eastern nation is yet to finalize its investments — a crucial requirement for U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick before he approves Nvidia’s export licenses to the country.
UAE has been fast in jumping on the AI bandwagon, with G42, a UAE-based AI datacenter keen on getting its hands on Nvidia’s latest chips. It’s also the first to partner with OpenAI with the launch of Stargate UAE under its OpenAI for Countries global initiative.
However, it seems that the UAE’s plans are being derailed as it faces some headwinds in its talks with Washington. The reason for the delay is unclear, but there are reportedly some private complaints that Sec. Lutnick was causing the slowdown. On the other hand, there are also conflicting reports that deny this, with an Nvidia executive reportedly saying that it has no concerns about how the deal is going down.
“Sacks and Secretary Lutnick are integral to the President’s AI agenda and are working diligently to get deals done on behalf of the American people,” said White House spokesperson Kush Desai. David Sacks is the White House Special Advisor for Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, dubbed the White House AI Czar. Under his purview, the White House removed several regulations that were “burdensome” to AI development and focused on supporting the rapid innovation of American AI.
There are reports that the delays are caused by the Emiratis’ slow commitment to their investments. It has already been months since the deal was first announced, but it seems that there hasn’t been any progress with the talks. Aside from this, there were also some national security concerns because of the UAE’s ties with China.
Despite all this, industry executives and administration officials see the UAE as crucial to maintaining the U.S.’ global lead in AI. With the country willing to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure, it would allow American AI hardware to scale outside of the U.S. and its western allies. Aside from that, it’s also seen as a key partner in expanding the United States’ influence in artificial intelligence and advanced tech in the region.
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